Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-14
WOMAN'S DEPARTMENT.
WOMEN WHO Toll

Sex.
In recent lecture, delivered at the
eleventh anniversary of the New York
Committee for the Prevention of State
Regulation of Vice. Emily Blackwell,
n. D.. referring to the need of cooper
alton among women, said:
No man can fully appreciate the in
dustrial misery of women upon whom
dcvolves the necessity of earning sup
port for themselves or others. As
work in all its forms is still considered
derOgatory to women, the necessity
they are under to work removes them
at once, more or less completely, from
the only class to which full social re-
spect esteem and protection are &C
corded. At the same time they are re-
garded as interlopers in the world of
industry. 1t is somewhat discredita-
bic for them to be there; they are I'M
welcome intruders in sphere properly
belonging to men. Hard work. mis-
cradle pay. monotonous life, and
more or less social stigma, is the gen.
eral lot. They themselves have inn
bibed the popular ideas of what is de-
sirable for women. and regard it as the
great object of life to be supported by
some one else, to escape from the neces-
sity of work. and they do not fully re-
spect either themselves or their fellow
workers.
They have no leaders among them
selves. In work they are under the
direction of, and dependent on. the
pleasure of men who do not respect
them as they do masculine workers, or
regard them as entitled to the consid-
GRAFTON due to non-working women.
They are outside the pale both socially
and lndustrially, and are fair prey in
both capacities. They are separated
by an impossible gulf from the richer
women, who should naturally be their
leaders; they have no habit or power of
combination among themselves. Each
one, ignorant and inexperienced.
struggles along unaided, and has no
expectation of aid or support, unless it
come to her from some man. Every
working girl soon learns that she has a
higher immediate value as an article
of merchandise than as a worker, and
that the men who are insolent task
masters to her in that capacity have
fair words and money for her in
another direction.
For there is one profession for
women which is never full; one occu-
patton which has its agents, with brides
and temptations, always at hand. Nor
does virtue bring the same reward to
the poor that it does to the rich. 1t
does not save them from contumely,
from the sense of being socially at a
disadvantage. There may be discredit
in want of purity, but there is no spe-
cial merit in it. To win the approba-
ton and admiration of men is the
more or less avowed object of the edu-
cation of girls. The immense impor-
lance attached to dress and personal
appearance, to manner and etiquette,
teach them that social attraction is the
great object, and all that is inculcated
in the way of womanly character
tends to unfit them for self-protection.
Obedience, self-repression, tact, self
devotion. are drilled into them early
and endlessly. Moral courage, self
respect, independence, are Indirectly
discouraged.
There is work to be done among
women parallel to that done by the
White Cross Society among men. As
to these we preach the duties of purity,
self-restraint and consideration for
others. so we need to arouse women to
the value of courage. self-respect and
a sense of responsibility to their COM
mon womanhood. They must recog-
nize that work is as honorable to
women as to men; that it is a social
crime to allow any girl to reach ma
turity untitled for self-support, or I'M
provided with the training which would
make it possible for her to stand upon
her own feet when it is necessary.
They should feel that the interests of
women are one and inseparable, from
the very highest to the very lowest.
Combination and united action are,
| if possible. more essential to women
than to men. The strength of women
is purely that of moral force. So long
as brute strength is the controlling
force in society. women have no place
nor chance in it. They are simply
sacrificed to the physical needs of the
race. But civilization means the pre-
dominance of moral over physical
force. and the more complete this as
tendency. the better opportunity is
there for the development of women
to their full perfection. But to reach
this end, they must develop and exert
their own moral force. This msst be
done, not only By individual but by
collective action. The highest must
realize that she is outraged by the
degradation of the lowest, and that her
own status is rendered insecure by the
industrial misery and isolation of the
workers below her. Every woman
must learn that her position depends